I shouldn't say this (again), but I will: ever since running that program about a week ago, my ancient PC has not crashed even once. Its schtick is cleaning out the dead spots in the registry, or some such.

I still have all that other stuff which I'm sure is mostly either useless or unnecessary, but I run it all from time to time just to remind my PC who's in charge. And now that I've said that...

I shouldn't say this (again), but I will: ever since running that program about a week ago, my ancient PC has not crashed even once.

Click to expand...

I have 10 year old PCs that have run continuously, 24/7, and have never crashed once. But then...they're all running Linux.

I run it all from time to time just to remind my PC who's in charge.

Click to expand...

See above.

If you ever reach a point where you're truly fed up with jumping through hoops just to end up with a system that doesn't crash constantly, there are tons of Linux distros out there just waiting to be tried. For free. No strings attached. And, best of all, no BSODs!

Moderator

Rank:

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Oct 29, 2013

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to do my registry hacking by hand. I like to know exactly what is going on rather than just clicking a button and hoping that everything works out. I've seen far too many issues caused by the magic "optimization" tools - especially when a whole series of them is run on the same machine.

Then again, I also use the old-fashioned fastboot oem unlock instead of any all-in-one unlock/root/flash toolkits.

(on a related note, my primary OS at home is Arch Linux - again, because I like to do things by hand!)

Thread Starter

Rank:

None

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Jan 18, 2011

I went through a dual-boot nightmare to install Lubuntu last summer. I was impressed with its stability but ended up booting to Windows just to be near the apps that make having a PC worthwhile. Someday the Linux universe will capture the attention of third-party developers and then of people like me.

Rank:

None

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Jan 27, 2011

I went through a dual-boot nightmare to install Lubuntu last summer. I was impressed with its stability but ended up booting to Windows just to be near the apps that make having a PC worthwhile.

Click to expand...

What are some apps, or types of apps, that you regularly use and can't do without? And are you sure you were looking for Linux equivalents of window$ apps...or were you expecting to use window$ apps on Linux?

There's nothing I've ever wanted or needed to do on Linux that I couldn't find an app for (or a command, if that's the route I was going). A quick look through Synaptic shows me thousands upon thousands of apps, for everything from ham radio to games to education. So when I hear comments like yours, I feel a little confused.

Someday the Linux universe will capture the attention of third-party developers and then of people like me.

Thread Starter

Rank:

None

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Jan 18, 2011

Well, for one, even though It's not a 'program,' I've become devoted to the aforementioned Rollback. As for the rest, I admit I am starting to think I could make that work... so I might try dualing again next year. Tons of hard drive, scant memory, too old to throw money at.

Rank:

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Jul 30, 2012

Couldn't I just get a 32GB card, install Lubuntu on that and let BIOS bootup let me decide which OS to launch?

Click to expand...

Heh, for that matter I've got Ubuntu 8.something installed on an sd card that I boot my Nintendo Wii off of. It's kinda slow, but that's more related to the underpowered-ness of the Wii (only 80mb of RAM) than anything else.

Thread Starter

Rank:

None

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Jan 18, 2011

Some computers of your vintage do not boot cards, most should boot sticks.
The best USB2 device I have found is the SanDisk Cruzer Fit.
There are two popular methods of installing to USB, Persistent install and Full install.

Persistent install 12.04, 12.10 is similar:

Boot Live CD or Live USB.
Plug in flash drive.
Start gparted.

Create 2 GB FAT32 partition, (on the left side of the bar). (size is optional, extra space can be used for file storage and transfer to Windows machines).

Create a 4 GB ext2 partition to the right of this, labeled it "casper-rw". (ext3 and ext4 also work).

Create a partition in the remaining space and label it "home-rw". (optional, creates a separate home partition).

Close gparted.
Un-mount and re-mount flash drive.
Start "Create a live usb startup disk", (usb-creator).
Select "Discard on shutdown".
Press "Make Startup Disk.
When usb-creator finishes, Go to the root folder of your Live USB
Enter the syslinux directory, (or for UNetbootin the root directory).
Make the syslinux.cfg file writeable
Replace the contents of the file syslinux.cfg with:

First time booting go to users and groups and create an account with yourself up as an Administrator, with password if desired.

Note:
The above code will bypass the Try/Install and Language screens.

Full Install 12.04

Turn off and unplug the computer. (See note at bottom)
Remove the side from the case.
Unplug the power cable from the hard drive.
Plug the computer back in.
Insert the flash drive.
Insert the Live CD or Live USB.
Start the computer, the CD/USB should boot.
Select language.
Select install Ubuntu.
Select Download updates while installing and Select Install this third-party software.
Continue
At "Installation type" select "Something else".
Continue
Confirm Device is correct.
Select "New Partition Table"
Click Continue on the drop down.

(Important)
Confirm "Device for boot loader installation" points to the USB drive. Default should be ok if HDD was unplugged.
Click "Install Now".

Select your location.
Continue.
Select Keyboard layout.
Continue.
Insert your name, username, password, computer name and select if you want to log in automatically or require a password.
Selecting "Encrypt my home folder" is a good option if you are worried about loosing your USB drive.
Select Continue.
Wait until install is complete.
Turn off computer and plug in the HDD.
Stick the side panel back on.

Note:
You may omit disabling the hard drive if after partitioning you choose to install grub to the root of the usb drive you are installing Ubuntu to, (ie sdb not sdb1). Be cautious, many people have overwritten the HDD MBR.
You may do an update-grub later. ​

I shouldn't say this (again), but I will: ever since running that program about a week ago, my ancient PC has not crashed even once. Its schtick is cleaning out the dead spots in the registry, or some such.

I still have all that other stuff which I'm sure is mostly either useless or unnecessary, but I run it all from time to time just to remind my PC who's in charge. And now that I've said that...

Rank:

None

Points:

Posts:

Joined:

Aug 3, 2011

What are some apps, or types of apps, that you regularly use and can't do without? And are you sure you were looking for Linux equivalents of window$ apps...or were you expecting to use window$ apps on Linux?

There's nothing I've ever wanted or needed to do on Linux that I couldn't find an app for.

Click to expand...

Is there anything on Linux similar to MS Onenote? I use this app to sync notes across my devices. I know there is Evernote on Android, but does this work on Linux?